Work support tables and supports for power tools are known.
However, prior to the present invention, supports for work and/or power tools having the features, functions and other capabilities, as described herein, were not known.
Many factors influence the acceptance of a product in the market place. Two of the major factors relate to the needs a product fulfills, i.e., the benefits of the product and a desire to own that product the, i.e., the appeal of the product, and/or a combination of these factors. Also important are the trends and outlook of the industry pertaining to the invention.
Power miter saws have become a boon to professional contractors, such as carpenters and cabinet makers. Their small size enables them to be easily transported to almost any job site, while their powerful cutting action speeds through cuts that would have taken hours with old-fashioned hand saws. One drawback with these saws, however, is the small table with which most of them are equipped as most projects require the cutting of a section of wood longer than one (1) foot. Therefore, some type of assistance or support must be used to hold the workpiece in the appropriate position. This usually comes in the form of a helper physically holding the work or board in place or a jury-rigged support stand. The latter, in addition to consuming a significant amount of labor to fabricate, is also usually unstable leading to inaccuracies. It can also be dangerous, since many jury-rigged stands are often fairly bulky. Also, single piece devices are difficult to carry and store.
In response to this problem, some power and woodworking tool manufacturers have begun to offer special folding support stands for power miter boxes. Although these have overcome some of the aforementioned problems associated with these types of saws, they still represent a compromise. For example, some "hand-truck" style units provide no method of supporting long workpieces, while some longer versions are not portable. Others are limited to the range of different sizes and types of power miter saws they can accommodate.